The Assistant (TV series)

The Assistant is a reality television show that parodied other reality shows such as The Apprentice, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Survivor, American Idol, and Fear Factor. Its eight episodes originally aired on MTV. It featured comedian Andy Dick's search for a new personal assistant. The beginning of the first episode parodied The Bachelor, with the twelve contestants arriving in limousines, and Dick waiting outside to greet them with his maid and butler. A "rose ceremony" immediately followed, and one contestant was eliminated.

The Assistant
GenreReality Comedy
Directed byKasey Barrett
Jeff Fisher
Presented byAndy Dick
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes8
Production
Running time25 minutes
Release
Original networkMTV
Original release12 July –
30 August 2004
External links
Website

Dick assigned the Hollywood hopefuls to some absurd tasks such as pretending to be him in an interview with a Japanese television station, bringing him coffee by traversing on a beam over a swimming pool, breaking up with his girlfriend, and attempting to get him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Contestants were usually "clipped" in elimination ceremonies parodying those on other reality series.[1] Like some other programs, The Assistant also included double elimination episodes and brought back fired candidates. Driving home Dick's message that they were starting from the bottom, candidates slept in Dick's garage. He also woke them with a flashing, siren-generating alarm, was prone to tantrums, and griped that, "This reality show is ruining my life!"[2]

Andy Dick actually had a relationship with one of the contestants on the show. Andy and Sarah Beckworth dated for a while after the show's end. The end of the relationship led to a breach of contract lawsuit with MTV which prohibited relationships with the contestants.

Though the show was satire, the twelve contestants were real and the winner, Melissa Ordway, was awarded several prizes including a job at MTV.[3] The runner-up was Mark, who had been fired, but was brought back in the seventh episode. The show was not renewed after its first season.

Contestants eliminated and reality show parodied

(in reverse order of elimination)

  • Melissa Ordway (Winner)
  • Mark Rogers
    • The Apprentice theme, Eliminated Episode 4 (brought back Episode 7)
    • Eliminated Episode 8
  • Tanika Kennedy
  • Mykell Wilson
  • Colin Blake
  • Anna Enger
    • Unaware, surprise lie detector test, Eliminated Episode 5
  • Stefani Fischer
  • Ebony Boykins
    • Survivor theme, Eliminated Episode 3
  • Nikeda Stanback
    • Who Wants to be a Millionaire theme, Eliminated Episode 1 (brought back Episode 3)
    • Survivor theme, Eliminated Episode 3
  • Sarah Beckworth
  • Jeff Jimenez
  • Andrew Sturgis (Andrew Rodgman)
    • The Bachelor theme, Eliminated Episode 1
gollark: ... it doesn't even keep your number if you roll?
gollark: Excellent error handling.
gollark: I added config now so it's... pretty much done?
gollark: I finished the log viewer bit.
gollark: Carthago delenda est.

References
  1. Roberts, Anthony (6 November 2004). "Reality check". Review. The Australian. p. B36.
  2. Janes, Thoden; Fasbach, Laura; Ervolino, Bill; Schwarz, Marc; Advocate, Stamford (26 July 2004). "reality bites". The Mix. The Record. p. F02.
  3. Bentley, Rosalind (19 September 2004). "Q&A / MELISSA ORDWAY: Reality TV gig bites, but she loves it". Gwinnett News. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. p. JJ5.
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